


Dogged

by merelypassingtime



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Dogs, Domestic Fluff, Father's Day, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24853879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merelypassingtime/pseuds/merelypassingtime
Summary: Bucky learns about Father's Day and is surprised to find he might have a reason to celebrate it.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 29
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I blame flawedamythyst's really excellent stories for tempting me into a new ship.  
> If you’d like to see it done right, I highly recommend their work.

It was serendipity, really.

Bucky almost never went to the store on Sunday because, while he sorta enjoyed the freedom to do mudande things like shopping, he wasn’t the biggest fan of crowds. Still, they had been out of fruit for himself and pizza for Clint, so he had decided to brave it.

Walking into the Walmart, he’d first been dismayed to find it even more busy than he’d expected, then puzzled to see much of that was due to the herd of people milling around a large blue display in the main aisle.

Curious, he steeled himself to push through the people to read the sign above the picked over rack and discovered that apparently today was Father’s Day.

He’d never heard of it, which didn’t really surprise him. A lot had changed during what Clint insisted on calling his Killer Catnap, and discovering a new holiday wasn’t even the strangest new thing he’d learned of that week, not when Thor had tried to introduce him to Call of Duty a few days ago. 

He would have dismissed the new knowledge with only a twinge of sadness since his own father was close to a century dead, if one of the few remaining cards hadn’t caught his eye as he was turning away.

Looking back, he saw that the card did indeed have a picture of a dog that looked almost exactly like Lucky, a resemblance that only grew when he picked the card up to look closer. This golden retriever might have both eyes, but it still had the same happy, slightly dopey look Lucky did whenever he looked at Clint.

Written next to the picture in clumsy blue lettering was, “You’re the best dog dad in the world!”

His first thought was, _That’s just stupid. Who buys a card from their own pet?_

His immediate second thought was about how much Clint spoiled Lucky, taking him on long walks, buying him expensive dog food, and feeding him too much pizza whenever he thought no one was looking.

He probably was the best dad a dog could ask for.

Maybe he deserved a card for it.

Bucky smiled down at the dog on the card, then flipped the card open to read the inside.

“You may have adopted me, but I’m pretty sure I actually own you. Happy Dad’s Day!”

The smile turned into a chuckle, and Bucky reached to grab an envelope to go with the card. 

Putting both in his basket, Bucky stepped out of the crowd, heading towards the craft section, hoping he could find some nontoxic purple ink so he could put Lucky’s pawprint in the card.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For TiBun, whose comment gave me the idea for this chapter.

Clint was having a great day already. He’d managed to miss most of the briefing he was supposed to attend and Tony had finally gotten around to adding fans to his range to simulate complex cross breezes. Plus, he knew Bucky had gone to the store earlier so there was a good chance he was coming home to a home cooked meal.

He whistled happily as he ignored the broken elevator to bound up the stairs two at a time. He was almost to their door when he paused, hearing a crash from inside and Bucky’s raised voice, indistinct through the door but clearly upset.

In seconds, Clint had his bow out of its case and an arrow notched. Moving slow and close to the wall so the floorboards wouldn’t creak, he approached the door and tried the handle. When he found it locked, he waited an endless moment for another thump from inside the apartment to cover the sound as he stuck in and turned his key. 

He took a deep breath and shoved the door in quickly and darted across the opening to the wall on the other side so he could scope out the room for enemies.

His quick scan revealed Bucky, sitting on the floor with his arms wrapped around Lucky, but no one else.

From inside Bucky called out, “Clint?”

“Yes,” Clint replied. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, of course I am.”

“But I heard you yelling.”

“Ah, well yeah. We’re not under attack or anything. It’s clear if you want to come in.”

“Okay,” Clint said, but he still stepped around the corner carefully, his bow ready.

Now that he got a better look at it, he could see the whole room was in disarray. The coffee table was on its side, the mugs and books that had been on it scattered across the floor and half covered by the blanket from the back of the sofa, and a lamp was down and looked broken. Strangest of all though, everything was covered with bright purple paw prints.

When he focused on Bucky, he saw Bucky too was covered in ink. It had soaked through one of the sleeves on his henley and he had a large streak of purple across one cheek.

Clint surveyed the carnage then said dryly, ‘So, have a good day, dear?”

Bucky blushed. “Up to a point.”

“What happened after that point?”

“Well, I was at the store, and I saw this display…” Bucky said.

Clint listened to him as he explained getting Clint a Father’s Day card from Lucky and the ink so he could put his paw print on it.

“… but they only had a huge sized bottle of purple ink, and when I went to dip Lucky’s paw in it, he managed to knock the bottle over than started running through it, and you see how that turned out.”

Clint nodded gravely. “It does look a little more purple in here today than I remember.”

“A little?!” Bucky squawked. 

Clint’s composure broke and he laughed at the look on Bucky’s face. “I guess Lucky thought we could use a bit of redecorating.”

Lucky, who was still being held in place by Bucky wagged his tag happily when he heard his name.

“Don’t encourage him,” Bucky said.

“But he is such a good boy!”

“Is that so? Bucky asked. He let go of the squirming dog and said, “Go, go say hi to Clint, Lucky.”

Lucky obediently danced to where Clint was standing and before he could react, jumped up to lick his face. Clint reflexively scratched his head, even as Lucky left two purple prints in the middle of his shirt.

Triumphantly, Bucky said, “Such a good boy, Lucky.”

“Jokes on you,” Clint said, “I like the paw prints. This is now officially my favorite shirt.”

“Good, I’m glad because that means I’ve got a bunch of new favorites for you, including the couch, our comforter, and the rug.”

“Awesome, it’ll be like living in an episode of Blue’s Clues.”

“What?”

“It’s not important. I don’t suppose this ink is washable, is it?

“No,” Bucky said heavily. “I’m so sorry, Clint.”

“Ah, sweetheart, no.”

With a final ruffling around Lucky’s neck, Clint pushed him down and picked his way through the wreckage towards where Bucky was looking forlornly around the room.  
Offering a hand, he pulled Bucky to his feet. “It still looks way better now than it did before you moved it.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been in literal garbage dumps that looked better than that.”

“That’s fair,” Clint nodded.

Quieter, Bucky asked, “You really aren’t mad?”

“With you? Never.”

Clint started to pull Bucky in for a kiss, but he leaned back. “I’m covered in ink.”

“I don’t care,” Clint said, stepping in to hug him tight.

More ink soaked into his new favorite shirt and Clint loved it.


End file.
